


only you (can ease my mind)

by ifthebookdoesntsell



Category: The Prom (2020), The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29827749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ifthebookdoesntsell/pseuds/ifthebookdoesntsell
Summary: “Are you okay?” Emma asks softly, eyes squeezing shut when Alyssa trembles harder in her grasp, tears soaking into her t-shirt.It’s a stupid question; she knows that, but she isn’t sure what else to say.“My mom’s just on a tirade,” Alyssa mumbles, snuggling closer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come over and just burst into tears.” She laughs wetly.“Don’t apologize,” Emma answers automatically. She kisses the top of her head. “Do you want to talk about it?”(Or, Alyssa had a bad afternoon with her mom. Emma does her best to make it better.)
Relationships: Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 16
Kudos: 54





	only you (can ease my mind)

**Author's Note:**

> hey y'all! i hope everybody's having an okay week! here's a little fic i wrote a bit ago. it's a soft little moment i envision happening just a bit before canon starts. hope you like it!
> 
> thanks for reading!
> 
> (title from ben platt's ease my mind.)

“Are you okay?” Emma asks softly, eyes squeezing shut when Alyssa trembles harder in her grasp, tears soaking into her t-shirt. 

It’s a stupid question; she knows that, but she isn’t sure what else to say. 

“My mom’s just on a tirade,” Alyssa mumbles, snuggling closer. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come over and just burst into tears.” She laughs wetly. 

“Don’t apologize,” Emma answers automatically. She kisses the top of her head. “Do you want to talk about it?” 

Alyssa sniffles. Emma’s heart aches in response. 

She hates when Alyssa cries, hates that her mother makes the happen more regularly than any party would like to admit. 

More than anything, she wishes she could storm down to Mrs. Greene’s office and offer a piece of her mind, but she knows that would only make it worse. 

“I didn’t do well on my test,” Alyssa tells her quietly, and that makes Emma clench her hand harder in Alyssa’s shirt where she’s been gripping it. Alyssa doesn’t deserve this. “And she started talking about college. And expectations. And my dad. And it just got louder and louder, and you know I don’t like it when she—“ 

“When she yells, I know,” Emma says softly. Anger boils hot in her belly, but she tries to keep it to herself for now. She can rant to Gran later. 

“I got an 88,” Alyssa whispers. “Which I don’t think is that bad!” 

“It’s not,” Emma agrees.  _ Your mom is just fucking terrible.  _ She doesn’t say it, but she sure thinks it. “An 88 in AP Calc is great, love. Especially since you said your teacher isn’t that good, right?” 

Alyssa nods. “She kind of just gives us worksheets.” 

“Well then an 88 is amazing!” Emma exclaims. “Besides, it’s the first test of the semester. You have at least four more and I’m sure you’ll do great on them.” 

Emma puts meaning and love behind every word, the kind that she knows Alyssa isn’t getting back home. 

“She was just so mean,” Alyssa breathes, voice tight with strangled emotion. “I get it! A good school would help with my future, but she doesn’t seem to care that I don’t even want to talk to her anymore or that I barely see her, and when I do, she mostly just yells at me and plans my schedule for the next few weeks like I’m her employee.” 

“Parents forget what it’s like to be kids,” Emma tells her wisely. She knows it from her own experience, knows her parents forgot what it is to long for understanding, for compassion. It seems Mrs. Greene has gone the same way. “It doesn’t mean they don’t love us. They just forget.” 

Alyssa giggles quietly. “When did you become so smart?” 

“I’ve always been smart!” Her girlfriend fakes offense. 

Alyssa snorts, lifting her head slightly to look up at Emma. The redness rimming her eyes tugs at Emma’s heart. 

“You know what I mean,” she says softly.

“Must have been when my parents threw me out,” Emma quips. 

“We sure make a pair, don’t we?” Alyssa smiles, melancholy and barely humorous. 

Emma returns the expression, eyes filled with love. “We sure do, my love.” She forces Alyssa to look at her, urging her to lift herself higher until they’re nose to nose. “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

Alyssa lights up slightly at that, leaning down for a kiss. 

She tastes salty, tear tracks drying on her cheeks while the last few roll down as she presses her lips to Emma’s, but she also still tastes faintly of hope, of understanding. 

There’s a desperate almost heartbreak about this kiss, about every touch they share whenever one of them has a day where their world caves in. 

They try to rescue each other from loneliness in these moments, try to hold the other and promise safety, promise a soft place to land. 

In this moment, Emma kisses Alyssa with everything she has, holds her right around her middle, communicating every ounce of love she can into it. 

It’s hard to see your beautiful parts when you’re hurting.

Emma knows that. 

It’s why she tries to hold a mirror to Alyssa whenever possible, tries to show her just how amazing, how gorgeous, how perfect she is. 

Every day, she knows Alyssa tells herself she’s alright. 

Every day, she knows that those words become less and less true. 

Still, she does her best to make Alyssa feel  _ okay _ when they’re pressed close like this,  _ good,  _ even. She tries to give Alyssa every ounce of love and care she’s ever missed out on, hold her so tight that she never feels alone. 

She’s so aware that the storms inside of Alyssa are what produce moments like this, are what make the rain of her teardrops fall between their lips as they try to breathe in each other’s best parts. 

She so wishes that she knew how to banish them, knew how to quiet Alyssa’s mind and heart. 

Instead, she settles for a quiet declaration. 

“I love you,” she murmurs into Alyssa’s mouth. “I love you so much.” 

Alyssa quivers, barely kissing back as her breath stutters. “I love you too,” she manages, so small, so desperate. 

“I love you,” Emma repeats. She needs Alyssa to know, to understand, to really hear the words. “I love you.” 

Alyssa breaks at the repetition, tears suddenly falling quicker as she presses their foreheads together for a brief second before she leans against Emma’s shoulder again. 

Life isn’t supposed to hurt this much. 

It isn’t. 

Emma believes this to be true. 

She certainly believes somebody as wonderful, as brilliant as Alyssa doesn’t deserve this. 

And one day, all she wants is to whisk her away from here, to show her exactly what she deserves, to promise that life will never be this hard again, that she’ll protect her. 

She can’t wait. 

One day, it’ll all be over, and they won’t live in stolen moments. One day, Alyssa won’t cry to her, sneaking out after her mom leaves for another business trip. 

One day, they will be in love and everyone will know. 

One day. 

Emma has known since that fateful night she told her parents the truth that always and forever do not mean the same thing. They both have endings, however much their definitions may say otherwise. 

It’s why she never promises to love Alyssa forever or always in these moments. Those words are saved for soft kisses under starlight, date nights and full moons. 

Instead, she promises to love her in every bit of now, in every bit of future, until the very end of the world, no matter what comes, no matter how it hurts. 

Of course, Emma wouldn’t mind if forever became an oath she could count on once more. 

With Alyssa, she thinks it may be possible. 

Perhaps they’ve begun to perch on edges of forever in these vow-filled whispers, pressed close, taking each other in. Perhaps these forevers are no longer finite, are the first worthwhile bits of  _ always _ either of them have ever experienced. 

Emma can’t help but feel her heart settle at the thought, can’t help but smile softly. 

Alyssa finally breaks through her thoughts with a self-annoyed groan. “God, I’m a mess. I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t,” Emma reminds. “It’s what I’m here for.” She runs a gentle hand through soft, dark hair. “I love you. I’m here to love you. Even when you’re mascara staining my favorite t-shirt.” 

Alyssa giggles. “Jerk.” 

“You better do my laundry after this, Greene.” 

Alyssa laughs louder at that. 

Emma’s heart swells. She loves it when Alyssa laughs. 

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Nolan.” 

**Author's Note:**

> hey there! thanks for reading! what did you think? if you enjoyed, consider dropping me a comment/kudo down below! i love hearing from y'all! it always makes my day. 
> 
> as always, you can find me on tumblr @ifthebookdoesntsell. my askbox is always open for whatever's on the brain. 
> 
> be safe x


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